Mythology within Pandora Hearts
Jun Mochizuki's Pandora Hearts has numerous mythological and religious figures; however, where the mythology is proven to be true, the religion seems to be directed more at the populace who don't know about the existence of the Abyss. List of Areas and Events with Mythological Importance The Abyss The Abyss is a parallel dimension where exponential amounts of power exists. This is where Chains are generated and is currently governed by the Intention of the Abyss. It was once said to have been been a beautiful world bathed in golden light, but due to Levi's "experiment", it lost this beauty. It is often taught to be a prison of darkness to children in order to make them behave. While this is in fact true, the legend of the Abyss is still no more than a legend outside the members of the Four Great Dukedoms and Pandora. Read More: Abyss Coming of Age Ceremony In the country where Pandora Hearts takes place, when a member of a noble family turns fifteen, they must undergo a rite of passage whereby they are introduced to society. Those who have yet to undergo this ceremony due to age or other reasons, are not allowed to attend social gatherings and visit the estates of other nobles, other than their close relatives, unless the situation demands it. It is considered unbecoming to do so and and is thus frowned upon by society. Read More: Coming of Age Ceremony List of Mythological figures The Core of the Abyss The Core was an mass of energy that existed in the dark heart of the Abyss over 100 years ago. This being had a consciousness of its own, however it was not known to have a will of its own, and as far as the Baskervilles were concerned. One particular Baskerville and Child of Ill Omen, Lacie, knew different however. She had felt the Core's presence and later told the Glen Baskerville of the time, Levi, of this. This led Levi to explain to her the existence of the Core of the Abyss, as well as her ability to approach it as a Child of Ill Omen. He warned her that coming into contact with it would disrupt the earth. Despite this, Lacie approached the Core anyway, keeping it company and giving it a black rabbit doll to play with. Levi, as part of his "experiment", later impregnated Lacie, and had her give birth in the Abyss after being dragged within its darkness by the Chains of Condemnation, before being destroyed by the darkness of the Abyss. The Core took one of her children as its vessel, as Levi had hoped, however this destroyed the harmony of the Abyss. After fusing with Lacie's daughter, the Core adapted to possess feminine characteristics, such as its way of speaking. Read More: The Core of the Abyss ''' The Intention of the Abyss The Intention of the Abyss is a deity composed of both the Core of the Abyss and Lacie's child. As soon as the Intention came into being when the two fused, the harmony of the Abyss was forever lost. The Intention carried out the Core of the Abyss' functions as the governess of the Abyss, and rarely offered the Core individuality through possession of Alice, or the Intention, however now the Abyss' time distortion ability rages out of control, leaving the Baskervilles who entered unable to return to their own time as they were before. Chains also became more uncontrollably violent and more difficult to be tamed. The Baskervilles, who previously were the loyal messengers of the Abyss, now wish to obtain the Intention and destroy her in hopes of restoring the harmony of the Abyss. '''Read More: The Intention of the Abyss The Baskervilles The Baskerville family is a group of individuals who have a natural disruptive aura that causes unfortunate events to occur around them. They are beings chosen by the Abyss' power, which is absorbed into their individual bodies, making their bodies so saturated with Abyssal power that they are more like Chains than humans. They are able to heal from wounds inflicted by means outside of the Abyss, much like how most Chains have the ability to regenerate their bodies after injury. The Baskervilles were meant to act as guardians of the Abyss, protecting its harmony, as well as the Chains that encircle the world and prevent it from plunging into the Abyss. After being framed as the cause of the Tragedy of Sablier by Jack Vessalius, the Baskervilles came to be viewed as criminals and murderers by the public. Eventually they faded to mere legend to those outside of the Four Great Dukedoms and Pandora. They became known as the Messengers of the Abyss or the Crimson Shinigami (meaning Crimson Death-Gods), and were used primarily to frighten young children. Their main purpose presently is to free the soul of their master, Glen Baskerville, and obtain and destroy the Intention of the Abyss. Read More: Baskerville Family Glen Baskerville Glen Baskerville is a title granted to the leader of the Baskervilles. The Glens are meant to contract with the Black Winged Chains, which they eventually pass down to their successors. The Glens, like all Baskervilles exist to maintain the order and harmony of the Abyss and being their leader, the Baskervilles including the Glen's successor, are completely subservient to the current Glen's will. When a Glen dies, due to their bodies being so saturated the power of the Abyss, they mutate into Chains. Before this happens, a successor undergoes a ceremony whereby they become the new Glen, attaining the collective consciousness and memories of all previous Glens in the process. Like the rest of the Baskervilles, The Glen at the time, Oswald, was framed by Jack Vessalius as the cause of the Tragedy of Sablier, and thus came to be labeled as a traitor. Read More: Glen Baskerville Children of Ill Omen Children of Ill Omen were previously taught to be the cause of disaster, and so when anything went awry, these children were often to blame. While this was true because of the distorted aura surrounding them as well as their hazardous existence to the world by being able to approach the Core of the Abyss, this legend seems to have faded over the course of 100 years, as people with red eyes are no longer treated with the same contempt by their peers as before. Read More: Children of Ill Omen List of Religious Figures The primary religion of the Pandora Hearts universe appears to have been inspired by Christianity, as statues and festivals dedicated to angels feature throughout society during the course of the series. While this religion does seem to be dominant among the populace, and is therefore practiced by numerous individuals, it's left unclear whether or not it plays a part in the true mythology that surrounds the Abyss. Though left vague, one specific connection has been made, as Arthur Barma wrote in his memoirs that when a soul enters The Rule of 100 Cycles, it's angels that guide them to their next life. Further clarity on the connection between the two religious worlds has yet to be revealed. Fianna, The White Angel Fianna was an angel in religion within Pandora Hearts. Her statue is located in Sablier, where an orphanage was named in her honor by the Nightray Family. The statue is in a room where it is the centerpiece in front of numerous pews, suggesting that it is an area of prayer. The true purpose of this facility is not an orphanage however, as the House of Fianna is a research facility where children who had lost their parents as Illegal Contractors or who were devoured by Chains, as these children now had a connection to the Abyss and could therefore draw Chains to them. Bridget, The Blue Angel Bridget was an angel in religion of the Pandora Hearts universe who's legend earned her a day of recognition in Reveil, where a festival was held. The story states that Bridget was an angel who fell in love with a human, and so in order to allow Bridget to descend to Earth with ease, the people wore outfits adorned with blue feathers in order to allow Bridget to blend in. The purpose of the festival is to take on an identity other than your own, and to recognize the person you hold dearest to you by giving them a blue feather, however giving one to the opposite sex symbolizes an attraction of some sort to that person. Luca, The Six Winged Angel Luca is known to be an angel within the religious mythology of the Pandora Hearts universe, however very little information is known about him. Differentiating from his fellow angel counterparts, Luca's signifying trait is that he has six wings rather than just two, possibly making him a seraph, though the reasoning for this as well as Luca's back story are a mystery. However, Luca acted as the inspiration for the Four Great Duke's emergency escape route, St. Luca's Gate, which has Luca carved into its framing. St. Luca's Gate can only be accessed through the use of the Keys to the Abyss - though after each use it takes quite some time before it can be used again in order to stop potential immediate pursuit by enemies of the Four Great Dukes. The Devil Although not specifically recognized by the characters of the Pandora Hearts universe, the village where Lily (of the Baskerville Clan) originated from, Ébauche, seems to have been of firm belief that Lily was connected to The Devil. The villages based this opinion on how bad things seemed to happen whenever Lily was around, and so the town tattooed the symbol of The Devil to Lily's face. The tattoo resembles a crimson thorn-covered vine that outlined the features of Lily's face in an "S" shape. Trivia *During Oz's second Coming of Age Ceremony, it was customary for the guests to give Oz white feathers to symbolize their recognition of Oz's coming into society. Whether or not this had anything to do with Fianna, the white angel, is unknown. Category:World of Pandora Hearts Category:Miscellaneous